Ebony Mail is sought after by most Skyrim players at one point or another, and it’s one you can’t make yourself. Ebony Mail is an artifact that can only be obtained through looting. It’s one of the few heavy armor types that remains a good choice for stealth missions, and it has the highest defense-to-weight ratio in Skyrim. It ranks fourth, after Daedric, Dragon, and Stalhrim armors in basic armor value, and is lighter than all three.
How to Get Ebony Mail in Skyrim
In order to get this rare artifact, you will need to loot the corpse of the Champion of Boethiah during the “Boethiah’s Calling” quest.
The champion is found at Knifepoint Ridge, but if that area is visited at all before the quest is initiated, the armor will unfortunately become unobtainable, as the passageway that leads to the champion will be blocked off by collapsed boulders.
In order to initiate this quest, you will first need to reach level 30. At this point, Boethiah’s Proving, one of the many books to read in Skyrim, will begin spawning in numerous locations around the world, which are listed below. The quest will begin once you read the book.
The book can be found:
- In the Black Book: Untold Legends
- In Hob’s Fall Cave
- On hostile Boethiah cultists
- On the bookshelf in Septimus Signus’s Outpost
- In the Markarth abandoned house under the bookshelf in the second room
Once the book is read, the Sacellum of Boethiah will appear on your map. Travel there to meet a priestess who will give you the task of luring someone in to be sacrificed. This “someone” will need to be a humanoid, and is easily done by taking a follower or guild initiate to the Pillar of Sacrifice. This will work for any follower that isn’t considered an essential character, and will not work for initiates of the Dark Brotherhood guild.
The poor soul you chose will be stuck to the pillar, and you will have the honor of performing the ritual with a weapon of your choice. The corpse will reanimate, controlled by the Daedric Prince, and will deliver a speech. Shortly thereafter, you will be commanded to fight to the death with the rest of the cultists.
Stand back and allow them to damage each other until few remain, then jump in and finish them off. Boethiah will take over the corpse of the last person killed, then tell you that she is bored of her current champion, and will order you to kill the gang they run at Knifepoint Ridge.
When you reach the ridge, take out the gang using whichever method you prefer. The Champion of Boethiah who commands the gang will be seen wearing the Ebony Mail, and once they’re killed, Boethiah will task you with recovering the armor. You will be declared as the new champion, and the Ebony Mail armor will become yours to keep.
Ebony Mail is one of the coolest types of armors in all of Skyrim, and now you know everything you need to know about acquiring it. If you’re interested in learning more about Skyrim, then feel free to check out our other guides at our guides hub!
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